Bathilda Waits
Bathilda, Freiin von Grimmelshausen, or better known as Bathilda Waits, is the next waiting-maid in The Goose Girl, the antagonist of the tale. Given that her destiny involves a gruesome death sentence after committing identity theft on a golden-haired princess, no one can blame her for wanting to rebel. This is especially a given since she signed the fake book a good few years ago, and saw no other means of escaping her fate until the Fire Nation attacked a certain someone refused to pledge. This isn't to say that she is spotless, however. With a plate full of sass and a passion for the performing arts, Batty would love nothing more than to become the most acclaimed actress in the land – even if it means taking over a kingdom without her Goose Girl getting in the way. Well, as a worst-case scenario at least. Character Personality The first thing one should know about Bathilda is that, as a future waiting-maid should be, she's an assertive, take-charge young woman who's almost never afraid to put others in their place. Aside from prioritized servitude towards the von Ganse family and their court all while badmouthing her own flesh and blood out of inherent anger towards her parents' failings, it needn't matter whether someone has blue blood or blue feet from lacking the funds to afford shoes. She will insist of anyone, despite her neat-freak tendencies, that she is not their flippin' maid. In fact, the role of a maid-in-waiting has nothing to do with maid-service – something she'll make very clear to those who think otherwise. Depending on who's asked, her boisterous demeanor is both a blessing and an ear-sore to those in her presence. Notably Bathilda can be quite flamboyant, and has an aura of irrepressible confidence that makes anyone wary of standing in her spotlight. She gets easily carried away – and is even easily influenced – by buzzing crowds and rowdy peer pressure despite her domineering presence, but her tendency to "chew the scenery" ensures that, while Bathilda is a clash of headstrong impressionability, her sharp tongue is backed by a thespian, acerbic air. Among the future villains' crowd, the senior student is known to be something of a tease – provoking students for the sake of shits and giggles; egging on her friends because hey, they don't mind, right?; even staff members deal with her semi-constant mouthiness, which she'll proudly try and justify with her disillusionment with "the System." The more time someone spends with the waiting maid to-be, the more it's apparent it becomes that Bathilda has viewed Ever After's hierarchy and destiny laws with jade-colored glasses for a very, very long time. As a mere kingdom courtier, she's well aware that most to-be antagonists out perform her in the magic department; this doesn't stop her from compensating with her smug, theatrical wit. After all, given the school's population of naive princesses and guileless future heroes, it's not that hard to work her way around a system that traditionally goes against her. Yet beyond her stage-stealing outlook, one will notice that Bathilda is much more loyal to her friends and allies than the previous Goose Girl's waiting-maid, and that her actions aren't always self-serving in nature. She's someone who will stubbornly stand her ground no matter the cost, and while her tact may be questionable, the girl's dispense of tough love has unofficially labeled her a "mom friend" among those who've warmed up to her. In spite of working her way into the villainous in-crowd (to the chagrin of certain members of the school board) she's increasingly prioritizing the performing arts and her stance on social justice issues – particularly transphobia and cissexism – over obligations relating to her destiny. ...even when this means, while reluctant to admit it, she manages to be nice around other MOGAI royalty and do-gooders every once in a while. Appearance At 6'2", Bathilda towers over quite a few students – not that she minds, her height suits her well and an added three inches from a pair of heels only compliment her looks. With fair, somewhat ruddy skin and an air of statuesque grace, her figure overall is slim and well-maintained by years of court duties and active attendance as a subject to her superior's kingdom. Her squared face is framed by auburn brown hair that reaches just above her shoulders, naturally wavy but curled even further depending on the occasion. She tends to pull it up part way and parts her bangs to her liking, but more often then not they curtain just above her wide-set blue eyes. Her color scheme is black/off-blacks, silver/gold (for accessories only, usually), white, bright blood red, and royal blue. She'll occasionally wear other colors, mainly hues associated with European nobility. Abilities, Hobbies, and Interests Magic Touch: The Oath-Keeper Any oath or promise pledged to Bathilda is literally bound by magic. If said promise is kept, luck will start to come upon whoever pledged to the oath; even more so if the oath-keeper avoids breaking it under sticky circumstances (ex. the whole confessing-to-a-stove thing in the original story). If the oath is broken, however, the opposite befalls. It most often comes across as random luck: finding generous spare change on the floor, passing tests that haven't been studied for, last-minute things such as nabbing tickets for a concert/etc, stuff like that. The same applies to bad luck, but it usually wears off after a while whenever Tilda revokes/forgets about/is unfazed about the broken promise. Outside of a select number of friends, Batty keeps knowledge of her Magic Touch under wraps. She's used her power to troll/get even with unknowing students, but has been doing so less ever since her fourth year at school. The Royal Court Bathilda was (and still is) being raised as a maid of the court/maid-of-honor in the Goose Girl's court, and has been for the last seven years. During that time she's spent quite a deal learning the ropes on assisting court entertainment, at times being a step ahead of her liege. Whether she saves a group project from failing or needs to facilitate a side project for the school's drama club, this makes her exceptionally organized in comparison to her peers – both in the court and in the classroom. Theatre/The Performing Arts One of her first duties as a palace maiden was to learn, memorize, and perform court dances and songs, and the young maid became a natural at entertaining the courtiers and royal family. She lived for their attention and her natural charisma always won them over, and it didn't take long before Bathilda began organizing skits with other maidens for the court. She engrossed herself in the musicals and the performing arts in general, and even began taking formal vocal lessons to strengthen her voice. To this day, she performs for the court with utmost loyalty. Bathilda entered the theater scene at Ever After High as soon as she was admitted. Granted, she was (and still sometimes is) typecast as civil servants and antagonists (hammy villain musical numbers optional), but she wouldn't mind it so much if it weren't for school directors passing her up for other students – particularly royalty – when it comes to lead (read: non-morally ambiguous) roles. Music Alongside her vocal training, she also would (and still does) perform for the court instrumentally. She took piano lessons at a fairly young age and later learned to play the hammered dulcimer. She currently performs the latter in one of Ever After High's many school orchestras. Tailoring Yet another talent learned in the court, Bathilda is skilled at adjusting and patching up clothes with handy needlework. Though her work as a seamstress doesn't go much beyond that, she'll occasionally lend the costume department a hand when she's not on stage or has free time during rehearsals. Fairy Tale: The Goose Girl Basic Summary The tale of The Goose Girl begins when an old queen has her daughter go on a journey to a far-off kingdom to marry her off to a betrothed prince. Along with sending gold and silver vessels and utensils, a talking horse named Falada, and her most trusted waiting-maid to attend the trip, the monarch also gave her daughter a lucky kerchief stained with three drops of her (the queen's) blood. She tells the princess not to lose it. Throughout the trip, the princess asked the waiting-maid to fetch her a cup of water between stops. The maid frequently defied the princess's orders, telling the girl to go fetch it herself each time. The third time this this happens, the princess loses the protective kerchief-charm by the waterside. Upon noticing, the waiting-maid seized the opportunity to take control of the princess and her goods, forcing the girl to switch places with her. She makes her swear an oath to not speak a word of this, or else she will be killed. From then point on, the maid pretended to be the princess while the princess had to act as her servant. When the two arrive at the palace, the princess-disguised waiting-maid had Falada slaughtered. Meanwhile the servant-princess was assigned to guard the geese with a boy named Conrad, thus the title of "goose girl." During the next few days, the Goose Girl would talk to her horses' decapitated head (with said head replying with "Alas, Alas, if your mother knew, her loving heart would break in two" each time) because that's totally normal, causing Conrad's hat to blow away whenever the lad wanted to pluck a lock of her hair because that's totally not a creepy thing for him to do. Upset, Conrad went to tell the king of the girl's actions, who responds via hiding by watching over the goose girl the next day. He ordered her to see him once Conrad's observations were proven true, only for the girl to say that she can't tell him her story as a result of the oath. The king then says to tell everything that's happened to her to the stove in the kitchen. Following his orders, the goose-girl crawls into the stove and confesses to everything that has happened to her. He overhears her as planned, and introduces the real princess to his son/the prince. The next night, the real princess was given a much more befitting dress to wear to the king and prince's court. There the false pride/waiting-maid was asked what she'd do were she to be subjected under the circumstances that the real princess went through (no names were given and the maid didn't recognize the princess, for some reason), who then responded saying that the perpetrator should be stripped naked, stuffed into a barrel lined with nails, and that the barrel should be dragged around by two white horses along the streets until dead. The waiting-maid unintentionally declared her own death-sentence, and the true princess-bride happily married her prince. How Bathilda Ties Into It While the very first waiting-maid was a lowly servant, throughout generations the role has been given to anyone with "maid" in their title, such as a lady-in-waiting. Each time the story must play out, one of the current Queen's female subjects is chosen for the role, gaining admission to Ever After High. Years prior to the selection, fairytale authorities disguise themselves as court attendees to the Goose Girl's kingdom in order to observe her "maids," all to determine who fits the role. Bathilda was the only daughter of a pair of glorified backgrounders, a Freiherr and Freifrau (a German Baron and Baroness), and was sent to the Goose Girl's kingdom at age 10 to train as a maid-of-honor – a young and unmarried lady-in-waiting – at the request of her mother, Wilhelmine. Concerned for her daughter's well being at home, she wanted to keep her away from close-minded members of the Grimmelshausen clan until she was certain they'd be accepting of her gender identity. While young Bathilda was confused at first, she soon grew fond of being taught court dances, tending to the Queen's princess, and being tutored by some of the finest scholars in Ever After. Unlike at home, the maid of the court could finally be herself. It helped that the Goose Girl's daughter, Radiant von Ganse, was a lot like her in some ways: trans, high-class, and having a problematic yet well-intended mother. But she still missed her family, and for a few years Bathilda thought that if she worked hard and showed that she was the best of the best, that maybe, just maybe she'd see her family again. After all, if court lessons were meant to teach young girls how to be lady-like, then maybe she'd prove to the others that she's just as much of one as any court maiden. The girl focused on her teachings, service to the royal family, piano practice, court theatrics, and lessons on embroidery and royal dress repair – all things that showed her loyalty to the ruling Goose Girl. One admission admission letter later and her parents were demanding '''what in Grimm's name did she do to earn a legacy that'd make her betray her liege. But at 14 years old and fearing for her future, poor Bathilda had no way of explaining herself. She became a permanent attendee to the Queen and her daughter, and aside from school funds, all ties were cut between her and the von Grimmelshausen clan. And so, that's how the now deemed Bathilda Waits became the next waiting-maid. Parallels * The name Bathilda (Ba-TIL-da) is a German name that means "''commanding battle maiden". Although her destiny has nothing to do with battle, the name speaks for itself. * Bathilda is also commanding and insistent herself, not unlike the waiting-maid in the story. * Batty loves to act and is an overall drama-inducing theater nerd. Acting requires someone to take the roll of someone that you're not, which is exactly what the waiting-maid did when she disguised herself as the real princess. * Her basic outfit includes the following nods: ** The white scarf with red polka-dots; aka the Goose girl's kerchief stained with three drops of blood ** Both dress-straps have red drop-shapes designs on them (third one for each shoulder is printed on the back/not seen in her picture). ** The red, drop-shaped patches sewn onto her dress; ditto, but the patches allude to what one typically might picture when they think of a scullery maid (the traditional waiting-maid in-story). ** The gold and silver-appearing belts/bracelets; the silver and gold vessels. They're actually made from brass and pewter, another reference to the waiting maid/false princess-bride. * Her Magic Touch, of course, is a nod to the oath that the waiting-maid forced the princess to take. Relationships Family The von Grimmelshausens Relations with her parents – let alone the other von Grimmelshausens – are strained. Though her mother Wilhelmine cared enough to place Bathilda in a safe space, the biggest fault in family was, and still is, their concern for appearances and their small-name-big-ego-esque reputation. Unfortunately they see their daughter's role as a waiting-maid as more than a little embarrassing, and prior to the events of Way Too Wonderland have been avoiding their daughter like the plague. After the special's events, however, Wilhelmine attempted to get in touch with her daughter again. She had the idea that, because the barriers of destiny were now undone, she would allow Bathilda back in her household and pretend that she never cast her and her well being aside. But Bathilda refused; after all, it was about time she returned her "family's" former antipathy. Even though their rejection hurt, the maiden knew that letting her parents back into her life would more pain than she'd already been through. The Goose Girl The only real mother-like figure in her life tbh, more at 6 Radiant von Ganse salty sisters from different misters Friends Sage Idason "two kids from different walks of life joined by the power of theatre and jazz hands and awkward convos" - Zena, to me okay so this is v mot-done but hey look a v basic outline: * friends since legacy/freedom year or somethin * both disgruntled with the school theater program's typecasting and with the System (sage kinda takes it in a different direction tho) * batty is not above salting/trolling/throwing snark at sage's conspiracy theory shenanigans in a playful manner, tho it kinda makes her facepalm juuuust a lil bit bc c'mon man how are u just finding out that the land of ever after is kind of a saccharine crapshoot jfc. that said she admittedly is interested in some of his stuff * awkward convos, awkward convos errywhere * both r opinionated nerds * cue meaningful feelsy things when they learn about each others' Tragic Backstories™ i guess (hers is sadder tho sage's is more average-sad idk what im doing guys help) * Thespian Things And No Chill Bc Sage Is Ace And She Respects That Completely, Also Do Either Of Them Have Chill I Think Not™ * '''t h e a t e r ''N E R D S Barley When Baathilda came across the next Scarecrow of Oz, she didn't intend on having a soft spot for him. Then everything changed when, once again, the Fire Nation attacked, or specifically after tricking him into doing her clothes shopping. When the two arrived at a boutique in the Book End plaza, the conversation that followed went something like this: * Tilda: ~jokingly~ So anything you'd buy yourself? * Barley: Weeeeeell, I really like the dresses! But I think those are girls' clothes. Not that I can think, but- * Tilda: Well who told you that? :I * Barley: Uhh... ~scratches head~ I 'unno. But all the girls wear dresses at school and in the magazines, not the. Girls are just really lucky. :v * Tilda: Well, don't just believe it just because you see it. I mean, plebeians like you can wear can wear whatever the spell they want, right? * Barley: I guess so... ~shifts uncomfortably~ * Tilda: Hey, you're gonna go in or what? You look like a guy with- * Barley: Nono, that's it! I know I'm not a girl, and I'm supposed to be a guy, and maybe I am a guy and I need brains to see it, but, ~beat, lowers voice~ ''I 'unno if I ''feel like it. * Tilda: (awkward pause) Oh? * Barley: ~beat~ ...Just. Welp. I don't feel like anything. I'm scarecrow and I'm nothing and I really don't like being either or, but, what if it's all me and I'm just too brainless to know what I am? ;;n;; Cue the maid-of-honor, who happens to be trans, trying very hard to maintain her composure despite having reason to empathize with a socially dysphoric MOGAI haysack. Instead of dropping Barley off at the boutique to finish her shopping (as was the plan), Bathilda went in with him and helped his sort out his views on gender rolls and gender identity in general.She offered to buy some cute dresses and feminine-labeled accessories for him and herself, and they've been friends since. Barley views her as something of a role-model who won him over with her confidence and a helping hand; meanwhile, Bathilda views Barley as an oddly endearing (albeit naive) Ozian who is much more thoughtful than others give him credit for. Alongside going on shopping sprees, the two love to gush about the performing arts and humanities together. Airmid Valerian Oh, Airy. When Bathilda first joined what then became Dead Epics, she considered the next Physician unfitting as a leader and yet all the same, she took pity on them for attempting to take charge of a room full of rowdy, melodramatic, and angst-filled soon-to-be dead people. The "Society" was a joke to her and Airmid just so happened to be unfortunate enough to be a part of the punchline. However, her opinion shifted somewhat after the second time she arrived at the club. Between whispers of Airmid being genderfluid and due to some rather interesting drama that Tilda had missed out on the meetings that followed, she decided to give Airmid and the club a second chance. And surprisingly? It was worth it. Sure, Airy's scientific approach can be off-putting at times (and the two of them are not above slinging quips and insults at each other), but Bathilda has to admit that Airmid is a dedicated soul who'll one day do great things in life. Overall, the two are a pair of semi chill friends who aren't afraid spill some hot scalding tea on each other from time to time. Enemies none listed here yet bUT there should be at somepoint i mean c'mon she'd totally have these Pets When the waiting-maid had her Animal Calling during sophomore year, Bathilda ended up owning a grey-coated Westphalian horse she named Adalbert. Although initially apprehensive about having a stallion for a pet (Radiant's the bigger horse girl out of the princess/waiting-maid duo), he gradually grew on her. His coat has faded into a more white-ish color as many grey horse coats have. Sometimes she'll affectionately call him a "nag" when he's being stubborn – a term that tends to grate most horse-lovers' ears, but Adal doesn't seem to mind (or care) that much. Romance Bathilda is single and, although certainly not unwilling, isn't tangled up in mingling at the moment. This isn't to say that she's yet to have relations, but in terms of partners (romantic or otherwise), but whether dealing with datemates or bedmates, Tilda knows her boundaries and makes sure to respect the ones set by the other person involved. That said, she rarely (if ever) is the first to approach someone that attract her on an emotional and romantic level. This is because, despite normally being forward with others, one of her biggest fears is to become the "other woman" who gets in the way of someone else's pining; being the "home-wrecker" who ruins a budding relationship; to play the part of the "false-bride" so to speak. Covert on how she dreads her role as the waiting-maid, Bathilda nonetheless must grow to become more assertive when it comes to her prospects. Otherwise, she may as well be a Goose Girl without her Happily Ever After (in the realm of romance, at least) – forever waiting for a king to make her admit her true feelings within the confines of s scullery stove. Outfits Basic never gonna gIVE YOU UP Legacy Day NEVER GONNA LET You down Thronecoming never gonna rUN AROUND AND DESERT YOUUU Notes *She was born on August 9th, making her a Leo. *The design for Bathilda's basic/default dress was inspired by/primarily modeled after this illustration of a German lady-in-waiting standing next to a princess. * *Von Grimmelshausen literally means "from Grimmel's houses". Although the word/name "grimmel" has an unknown meaning, the surname was chosen to signify her ties to German nobility as well as for beginning with "Grimm" as an unintended pun/reference to her family's ties to Grimm's fairy tales. *Her activist-bent tendencies aside, Bathilda is otherwise neither particularly secretive nor is she necessarily open about being transgender. *She is one of the more argumentative members of Dead Epics Society because reasons. Gallery Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Rebels Category:The Goose Girl Category:Transgender Category:Pansexual